Closing the Kamasutra

In another country at the river's edge
We lay down in whispering dirt,
Then tried to fix a house with hot hope.
If we live together much longer
I'll become a cloud in my own soul.
Sweet jasmine floats in a bowl,
A keyboard harbours insects
(Mites in secret laying white eggs).
I must light frankincense to smoke them out
Else the alphabets will fail.
It is written in the Kamasutra–
They embraced not caring about pain or injury,
All they wanted was to enter each other.
This is known as milk-and-water.




"Closing the Kamasutra" by Meena Alexander from Quickly Changing River (TriQuarterly Books/ Northwestern University Press, 2008) is reprinted by permission of the author. All rights reserved.